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Life Tips for Personal, Financial and Business Growth

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Respect: As important as Any Employee Benefit

Employee benefits are often viewed as the difference between hiring and retaining top talent or watching the best in the business take jobs elsewhere. Benefits are important, but they only make up one aspect of what companies can do to maintain long-term relationships with their employees. Unfortunately, there are many intangibles that are difficult to quantify.

Respect is one such intangible. It is no less important than any of the tangible benefits that made BenefitMall’s list of 5 Benefit Trends to Watch in 2020. You can even make the case that respect is more important than things like employee wellness programs and student loan reduction benefits.

It all boils down to how employees are treated. Do managers treat employees like human beings with thoughts, emotions, and worthwhile contributions? Or are employees treated like nothing more than human resources little different from any other resources?

The Retail Example

The need for respect knows no industry boundaries. A lack thereof manifests itself differently from one industry to the next. In retail, the effects are observed in the industry’s turnover rate. According to the Society for Human Resources Management, turnover in the retail sector is in excess of 60%.

That means six in every 10 retail employees will not stick around for even a year. This creates a nightmare for managers who are constantly having to hire and train new team members. Wouldn’t it be better to work on retaining employees instead? Of course it would. But before an organization can do so, it has to admit why turnover is so high.

Among the many complaints voiced by retail employees is inconsistent scheduling. Employee schedules change from one week to the next, making it nearly impossible for them to schedule any other area of life. Inconsistent scheduling makes childcare a nightmare, for example.

Inconsistent scheduling shows a lack of respect for employees as human beings with lives outside of work. Employees know it. They know that if management doesn’t respect their schedules, the boss is unlikely to show the respect anywhere else.

When Customers Get Abusive

Another big complaint among retail workers rests in management unwilling to support them when customers become abusive. Unfortunately, 50 years of the ‘customer is always right’ mentality has given rise to a new generation of consumers who believe it is their right to abuse retail employees.

When management steps up and backs the employee, it shows the employee a measure of respect. The opposite is also true. When managers take the side of abusive customers on the false notion that customers can never be wrong, they show a clear lack of respect for employees.

A Two-Way Street

There are other ways a lack of respect manifests itself in the workplace. What must be understood is that respect is a two-way street. Management has a reasonable expectation that employees will show them the proper respect. This is right and just. But holding a management position does not give one license to treat subordinates with disrespect.

We often say that respect is earned rather than given. If managers expect team members to earn their respect through hard work, reliance, etc., they should expect no less from themselves. They should earn the respect of their employees by treating them well.

Health insurance is a great employee benefit. A retirement plan can go a long way toward securing an employee’s future. Equally important to all those tangible benefits are the intangibles like respect. Companies that do not show their employees even a basic amount of respect should plan on high turnover rates. That is the way the world works.

 

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5 Tips to Knowing How Much Money You Should Keep in Your Checking Account

You may have heard the expression “save for a rainy day,” and you certainly should. But how much should you be saving, and how much of that money should you be keeping in your checking account?

Generally speaking, it’s a good idea to keep your savings and your checking separate. After all, you don’t want to be tempted to spend the money that you’ve worked so hard saving on a frivolous impulse buy. But at the same time, you should keep a little extra on hand in your checking account. This will help you avoid overdraft fees, for instance, if you make a mistake and draw too much from your account.

So what’s the right amount? Well, that depends on a few things. Here are our five tips for knowing how much money you should keep in your checking account.

1. Maintain the Required Minimum Balance

Some checking accounts have minimum balance requirements. Before signing up for an account, check with your financial advisor to see what, if any, requirements are associated with the account. The minimum amount required often varies based on the financial institution and the particular type of account you have.

For instance, Rivermark Community Credit Union offers a Free Checking Plus account with a minimum opening balance of $25. Once your account is funded with the opening deposit, however, there are no further minimum balance requirements. If you do have a checking account with a minimum balance requirement, you should make sure you always have at least that amount in your checking account to avoid any penalties or fees.

2. Calculate Your Monthly Bills

Once you’ve made sure that you have enough money to cover any minimum balance requirements, make sure you have enough in your account to cover your monthly bill payments. Many people use the auto-deduct option for payments such as rent, utilities, and debt obligations, such as credit cards or student loans. Using auto deduct not only ensures your bills get paid on time, but you may also get an interest rate deduction by using this option.

This can save you quite a bit of money over time. But only if you have enough money in your account to cover these bills. If you forget you’re signed up for auto deduct and you don’t have enough money in your account to cover the payments, then you’ll likely incur late or overdraft fees. That’s why you should add up your monthly bills and always keep enough money in your checking account to cover the total.

3. Account for Monthly Expenses

Once you know how much you’re spending on your monthly bills, you’ll also want to add up how much money you need for other monthly expenses. For instance, you probably use your checking account to pay for things like gas, groceries, and other basic living expenses.

If you have a monthly budget, great. You can use that to know how much you spend in an average month. If you don’t have a monthly budget, now is a good time to sit down and create one. This free budget worksheet from Consumer.gov is a good place to start.

You can look at your checking account for the past few months and total up how much you’re spending on food, gas, entertainment, and any other regular expenses. Then create a budget with categories for these things, as well as for your monthly bills. Assign a maximum spending amount for each category in your budget and then add up all these amounts. This is how much money you’ll need each month to cover all your expenses.

If you see that you’re spending more than you’re making, you may need to cut back in certain areas. Your financial advisor can help you do that. Once you know how much money you need to cover all your average monthly expenses, you should aim to keep that total amount in your checking account.

4. Add a Little Extra

Remember that your budget is based on an average month. There will always be some months when you spend a little extra. You could have a water leak, for instance, that may cause your water bill to be higher one month. Or you may have certain expenses that only come around once or twice a year, like property taxes or membership fees. You’ll want to account for these extra expenses as well and add them to your overall monthly budget amount. If you have an annual expense, divide that amount by 12 and add that amount into your monthly budget.

Once you have a new monthly budget that accounts for all your annual expenses, add at least 10% to the total monthly budget amount so that you can cover unexpected expenses without having to dip into your savings.

5. Put Your Savings Elsewhere

In general, you should plan to keep a full month’s worth of expenses plus 10% extra in your checking account at all times. It may be tempting to keep more money in your checking account. However, you should set any extra aside in a separate savings account. As we mentioned before, this will help you avoid the temptation to spend the extra cash and will help you save for bigger-budget items, such as a vacation, car, or new home.

Most Americans live paycheck to paycheck. Wouldn’t it be nice to instead have enough cash in your checking account to use the money from this month’s paychecks for next month’s expenses? Doing that will keep you one step ahead of the game. It may take some time and work to get to that place, but we can help. Our financial advisors can come up with a plan to help you find extra savings, cut back on your spending, and plan for the future. So give us a call and we can put you on the path toward future financial success right now.

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3 Ways to Keep Your Finance Goals on Track as You Age

Reaching financial goals can feel like a constant bob and weave because there are so many factors that directly impact your financial well-being. If you are not prepared, a seemingly small event can completely derail your progress. While it may be impossible to plan for everything, there are steps you can take to ensure you stay on track with your financial goals. Here are three ways to help you stay focused on your goals and keep moving forward.

1. Talk to a financial planner

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There is so much great information online that people sometimes think they don’t need to talk to professionals. We are in a “do-it-yourself” society that has minimized the tremendously positive impact trusting professionals can have on our lives. Alastair Barnes is a financial analyst with the experience and education to help others prepare financial goals and take the necessary steps towards those goals. He works for a financial firm in New York, sharing his expertise with others. He studied finance for years in college to become an expert, so that others can focus on their lives and careers and not need to learn everything to make sound financial decisions. You can’t learn his level of knowledge by reading articles on the internet.

Finding a financial analyst like Barnes to help you look over your financial situation and determine what steps you need to take will relieve a great deal of the stress, as well as free up the time you would spend looking for the information online. You’ll also know for sure that the advice you are getting is reliable and based on experience and education.

2. Get rid of debt

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Debt will work against all of your financial goals. Getting rid of your debt will free you to work towards the things you want in life, and the faster you can pay off your debt, the quicker you will be able to reach your financial goals. One option is a debt consolidation loan, which will allow you to take all of your debt and put it into one monthly payment. However, you will still be paying interest on the debt until it is paid off. Another option is to see if you qualify for a viatical settlement. Viatical meaning the settlement will buy out your life insurance policy. You can get a lump sum of money that will allow you to pay off your existing debt.

Always start with credit card debt because it is the most damaging. However, once you get your credit card debt handled, don’t stop there. Think of the financial peace you would have to know your home and vehicle were both paid off. Think about how much extra money you would have each month without those expenses. You can strive for a completely debt-free life to benefit both you and your family after you’re gone.

3. Plan for the unexpected

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For many, they lose track of their financial goals when facing the unexpected. Illness, accidents, and job loss are often the type of unforeseen events that hurt people financially. While you cannot expect these types fo things to happen, you can plan for them by creating an emergency fund. An emergency fund should be at least $1000 but up to six months’ worth of expenses. The more you have in the emergency fund, the more peace of mind you will have. If you lost your job tomorrow, you wouldn’t also lose your home and your vehicle. Even if you don’t have major expenses like a home or vehicle payments, having money set aside for emergencies will protect you when you least expect it.

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5 Ways to Attract New Customers to Your ECommerce Store

Since the panic of COVID-19, many shops have closed their doors. But, online shopping has not closed, actually more people have been shopping online more than ever. If your eCommerce site isn’t seeing the business you feel it should be then you’re in for some trouble. Whether you’ve had your site for a while or you’re a newbie who’s on to a fresh start—these five tips will be sure to help you gain some new customers.

1. Make your website eye-catching.

The first thing you need to do is ask yourself if your website has an appealing taste to it. Ask some of your friends, family members, or have your employees take a poll—better yet have some of your customers take a quick survey. The design of your online store is a crucial part of having customers shop at your site.

Think about an unappealing store while you’re in the mall. Now you wouldn’t go shopping in that store, would you? The first impression is real and they count for everything when it comes to an online business. If your website doesn’t attract customers than it is time to have a makeover. Create something tasteful but make sure to keep it professional.

2. Great customer care.

One thing customers tend to talk about is how helpful a brand’s customer service was. Make sure that you have the best in the business with Bright Pattern’s cloud-based call center. The company’s omnichannel cloud-based software is the best that money can buy.

They are the only innovative company that is currently using an omnichannel platform. Most companies are still performing with multichannel software. The best benefit of Bright Pattern’s software is that customers can begin their conversation on one channel such as voice, video, or on a digital channel such as email, SMS, or mobile messaging apps. Multichannel software does not have this benefit. Be sure to grab the best customer service software in the business.

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3. Look into OKR software.

OKR stands for objective and key results and you will need this in order to succeed in gaining new clients for your company. With OKRs you will be able to set up objectives and what the key results will be out of achieving those. With this strategy and results platform, you will be able to quickly align to see the results you would like out of your organization.

Companies such as Microsoft, Cisco, Comcast, and Malware Bytes all use this technology to stay one foot above the competition. You will want this software to get a clear picture of how you will gain more customers for your eCommerce store.

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4. Good reviews and ratings on your products.

Not only does reputation mean a lot—good reviews and good ratings for the items you sell go a long way for gaining new customers. Customers tend to become drawn toward the product that has 20 positive comments over the one that has zero comments—even though the two products share no differences. You will want to encourage the customers who are satisfied with your products to leave a good review and a good rating. If you can get your customers to do so you will be surprised how much your sales will boost.

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5. SEO and social media are still (and most likely always will be) relevant.

We have three words you want to remember—Search, Engine, Optimization, or SEO for short. SEO has been known to have the best return on investment or ROI for eCommerce websites to date. You will want to research the keywords that are being used by most customers to find your products and ones similar to yours. Then, you will want to speak with someone who is familiar with SEO software and tell them what keywords you would like your website to link back too. You will want your website to be at the top of search engine results because they are responsible for most customers getting acquainted with the finding of your product.

Another effective way to gain some new customers is by gaining a social media presence. You will want to get on every platform of social media you can find and create profiles. These platforms include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, and anything else you can find. You’ll want to make profiles for your business and begin to network through them to get a customer following. Many businesses have been known to increase their sales after they began a social media campaign.

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Best Ways to Find Cheap Holidays

You always want to make the best of your holidays by visiting new places, exploring new cultures, and rejoicing at different fun-filled activities. Keeping your holiday affordable is a wise decision, and through this, you can enjoy vacations more often and entertain yourself time and again by choosing different spots.

Generally, people think that only millionaires can enjoy a vacation as it costs a lot to embark on one. But many travel industries abound that make it convenient for those who can’t spend a lot by giving offers, deals, and bonuses. At first, it was only the airliners that would give you discounts on select holiday destinations. These days, however, the market is flooded with travel companies that waive off significant parts of the trip costs if you follow their holiday plan. These options are worth looking into, and a quick check into reviews about Cheap Faremart, Faremakers, and Skyscanner could save you some rent money.

Also, follow these guidelines to be more prudent about where you spend.

Travel company

Always choose a reliable and reputable company for planning your trip. Keep yourself updated regarding their offers and deals to fetch affordable cheap deals. A bargain is the lifeblood of the travel industry. Its products are time-sensitive: a room left empty one night, or an airline seat that is still available can’t be resold the next day. So, particularly if you are making arrangements at the last minute, bargain – especially when dealing with tour operators and travel agents.

Internet surfing

With the advent of technological revolutions, it has become far more comfortable to be well-informed, and you have more than a few options. You have a plethora of options, and through this can you fulfill your dreams of traveling anywhere in the world. The internet is an essential source of finding cheap packages of airlines, hotels, and other services.

Compare

Relying on one website for checking holidays offers and deals is not right. To ensure you get the best offer, use a comparison site like GoCompare, or do it the old way and visit the websites of reputable agencies to see what they are offering at this time of the year. Through this, you will drastically cut the price of your holiday and maybe have more fun since you saved some hard-earned cash.

Reviews

Reviews are shared stories of different people’s experiences. A thorough study will give you insight into cheap holiday destinations, accommodation, and other necessities.

Take along basic things

To avoid buying overpriced items, pack your essentials with you when you leave your home. If you are going on a sports holiday, bring your necessary sports gear, if you are moving to a cold place, pack your comfy t-shirts, shorts, and trousers.

Perfect time to travel:

Mostly people travel to different destinations during high times to enjoy scheduled festivals, and at that time, the prices for air tickets and accommodations are too high. Better to plan a vacation during those dates when destinations have fewer visitors, and the rates are cheap. Moreover, you will get to enjoy the calm and peace without the hustle and bustle.